Redemption

Chapter 11

Quickly washing off her face and peeling out of her clothes. She met Acrux outside. The sky was painted dark orange, marring into a midnight blue.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Azalea asked.

"No, but you don't either. The undead probably likes to roam around at night, giving them time to do whatever they need to with no attention."

"This is Antares. The damn city never sleeps," she replied

Ignoring her, Acrux continued. "Let's go back to the cemetery; if two already tried to kill themselves, more are probably doing the same."

They went to the cemetery again, staying alert in case anything was unusual. They crouched by the gates and watched. Azalea grew agitated after what seemed like hours, shifting uncomfortably as her legs cramped.

"Stop moving," Acrux hissed.

Glowering at him, she stood still with a scowl painted on her face. She streamlined her ears for any sign. Nothing. Acrux leapt up and slowly moved forward. Azalea narrowed her eyes, mouthing. "What are you doing?" ignoring her, he kept moving forward.

She studied where he was going, squinting her eyes as she looked ahead. Her eyes widened in shock. An undead was standing near a grave, still as the night. Acrux moved closer, the undead giving no reaction as he stood behind it. Instead of drawing a weapon like Azalea would do, he raised his hand, and black shadows swirled down his arms into his outstretched hands and wrapped around the undead, bounding it so it couldn't escape. Walking back, the undead tugged along the rope shadow, and he stopped before her.

"We're leaving." He said, yanking her up and gripping her hand.

Azalea stared between his hand and the shadows. Her eyes darted back and forth. Before she could say anything, she was swallowed by shadows. Her body was propelled forward at lightning speed until she stopped. Opening her eyes, she found herself in her home. Confused, she stared at Acrux and the undead as they appeared next to her, seeming to come out of the shadows. Stomach churning, Azalea gripped her stomach and lurched in the nearest bowl. Swiping her hands to her face, she stood, feeling queasy. Taking a few moments to compose herself, she breathed in and turned to face Acrux.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Shadow jumping," he replied, unconcerned by Azalea's growing rage.

Lifting a hand, Azalea shook her head. "You can control shadows. And you didn't think to mention it earlier. You could have pulled the undead off me with your shadows. But you didn't. You were sent to be my babysitter, but you did the opposite. I pity anyone who had to work with you; clearly a shitty teammate.

She flung a knife at Acrux's head. He caught it right before it could nick his ear, not flinching. Twirling it around, he said, "You had it handled, or do you doubt your skills that much?" He continued, not waiting for her answer. "I will not causally use my abilities to save you from your reckless acts. We have bigger concerns at the moment than your complaints." looking at the bound undead next to him.

Azalea eyed him, biting her tongue to stop a nasty insult. She dragged a chair, scraping it against the floor. His shadows deposited the undead, shifting to bind themselves around it and the chair.

"Now what? It's not talking or moving," she said, crossing her arms.

Disregarding her comment, Acrux advanced closer and prodded the butt of the knife into the undead's arm. Stirring, its eyes blinked open. Azalea took that moment to examine the thing that was once a man. Its once tan face was a muted peach, similar to his brown eyes that had all their colour sucked out. Black veins were a stark comparison. It ran down its arms, up his neck disappearing into the sides of his face.

"Who did this to you? Who raised you from death?" she asked, tilting her head.

He blinked, the only indication it heard her. Letting out an annoyed breath, she gestured to Acrux to try.

"Who is your master? Who do you answer to?" he asked menacingly. Tracing the knife upwards to his throat, a line of black blood welled up. It slowly dripped onto the floor. The undead stared at him, undisturbed at the knife by the throat.

Azalea stared at the blank gunk that was now stained her carpet. "That carpet was expensive. You're cleaning it." She said, frowning.

"Unbelievable," Acrux muttered.

The undead stiffened, drawing their attention to it. They peered into its face, confused about what caused that reaction. Noticing its eyes that were once a muted brown, it had a glassy look like the eyes of someone who had just died.

"Is it.......dead?" Azalea voiced out loud.

A raspy chuckle rose from the body. The undead adjusts as much as possible, staring against its bound body. Looking up at them, it opened its mouth, its teeth rotten.

"So you are the ones looking for me," it said, staring at them.

Azalea tensed, frowning as it spoke. Its voice was strange, out of place, as if it didn't belong to the body of this man. Glancing at Acrux, their eyes met; they had the same idea.

"You're not that undead man, are you." wanting to confirm her suspicions.

"I hear they call me the Resurrector of Death," it replied.

Acrux interrupted their exchange. "How are you doing this? I expected you could only raise the dead, maybe even control them, which we can safely assume you do. But talking through the bodies is unheard of."

"You can say I have a gift. I do love anything dead." Cocking its head, it turned to look at Azalea, squinting at her eyes. "You've grown into a gorgeous woman like I knew you would."

She stepped backwards, unease growing. "What do you mean? I don't know any resurrectors."

Its mouth twisted into a sneer. Opening its mouth to reply, it began coughing. Choking on black gunk as it came out of its throat.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but this body is decomposing as I speak." It gasped out.

Its glassy eyes turned its muted brown colour as it whispered. "Kill me. Please, Kill me," it begged, its eyes pleading. Its throat constricted as it retched more black gunk."Please"

Acrux moved, drawing the knife against his throat. Quickly ending his suffering. It stilled and became dead once more. Black blood and gunk now covered the surrounding area, drenching the carpet.

"You're buying me a new carpet before I return to Inferis," Azalea said, snapping them out of the daze.

Acrux grasped her arm, stopping her from walking away.

"Did you recognize that voice?"

She stilled. "No. I have no idea who that was or how he knew me."

He surveyed her, his eyes full of distrust.

"If I knew, I would have gone to look for him, killed him, and brought his head to your king, so I can enjoy eternity in Caelum." Grabbing a stale loaf for the kitchen, she strode to her room.

"Now is not the time to sleep. Get out." Acrux's voice vibrated against the door.

"Go do it yourself. I'm tired. See you in the morning." she said from behind the door.

She could hear him cursing, rolling her eyes as she walked to her nightstand and took out the blood-crusted coin stamped with a C. Her anger grew as she stared at it, betrayal cracking her heart. Swallowing away any of her feelings, she pocketed the coin and ensured all her weapons were there, replacing the knife she threw at a crux with the pearl-studded one she had bought a few days prior. Cracking her window open, she leapt off the ledge, disappearing into the night.